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Axew Line/B2W2
Axew can only be found in Mistralton Cave. Fraxure and Haxorus are only available in the postgame, in the Nature Preserve, where a shiny Haxorus is available as a static encounter. Annoying to evolve, amazing to use: a perfect summary for Haxorus. This pseudo-pseudo-legendary actually manages to accomplish more than some actual pseudo-legendaries, thanks to its earlier evolution and good stat distribution, giving it nice bulk and an over-the-top Attack; Haxorus also comes packaged with Dragon Dance from the start, gets access to good physical moves early enough (Dragon Claw included), and its pure Dragon typing spares it from shivering at the sole thought of an enemy potentially having an Ice move. Thanks to the Eviolite, Fraxure is also fairly usable even before reaching the final evolutionary state. Overall, a Haxorus will easily find a spot in any team, covering niches that are often left open due to how few Pokémon can actually cover them. A single Dragon Dance is enough to wreck face almost everywhere, and Haxorus' bulk almost always allows it to take damage for one turn before proceeding with the sweep. Even with the discouraging amount of Ice-types in the late game, a Haxorus will still prove its worth and pull its weight, weakness or not. Important Matchups - Challenge Mode = * Gym #6 - Skyla (Mistralton City, Flying-type): With some healing and an Eviolite, Fraxure can easily solo the gym. Swoobat's Acrobatics will only deal between 25% and 30% on average, meaning Fraxure can survive a regular hit and a critical hit in succession. Two Dragon Dances will suffice to OHKO Swoobat, Sigilyph and Swanna, but Skarmory will only be in the certain 2HKO range with five of them. * Hugh (Undella Town): Unfezant would be good setup material if not for Taunt. It will likely inhibit Dragon Dance to begin with, so it is best to dispatch it quickly with Dragon Claw. Fraxure can also take on the elemental monkeys just fine, and may even attempt a setup if enough healing items are available; with the Eviolite handy, it will not take much damage from their STAB moves, which it resists. The starters are more difficult, and Serperior in particular is very dangerous as it has Coil; do not fight it unless there is a prior Dragon Dance setup. * Zinzolin (Lacunosa Town, tag battle with Hugh): Cryogonal is the only real threat to Fraxure's health. Every other move on either end is a 3HKO at best, allowing Fraxure to slowly sweep its way through the Plasma ranks. Do not use Dragon Dance in this segment, or Sneasel will kill Fraxure with Punishment. * Gym #7 - Drayden (Opelucid City, Dragon-type): Haxorus' usefulness in this fight depends on its stats and ability. The favoured cases are Mold Breaker specimens or male specimens with Rivalry; these can OHKO everything on Drayden's team with Dragon Claw, with the possible exception of Altaria, which might be able to take a hit if the damage roll and Haxorus' Attack are both low. Female specimens with Rivalry, instead, may or may not make the cut if they hold the Expert Belt, but calculations will be needed according to their actual stats. * Zinzolin (Opelucid City): Respectively: never in Haxorus' life, ditto, and maybe. Weavile's only Ice STAB is Ice Shard, so Haxorus can take a hit and respond with X-Scissor. Cryogonal, however, can outspeed and one-shot Haxorus with Ice Beam. * Shadow (Opelucid City): Brick Break or Bulldoze are the best possible options for the two Pawniard, but even just X-Scissor will do the trick. Absol will fall to pieces before uttering a move. * Gym #8 - Marlon (Humilau City, Water-type): Wailord and Mantine have Ice Beam and should be tackled by someone else. Carracosta's Shell Smash should be worked around by having Haxorus Dragon Dance on the first turn, then spam Dragon Claw until Carracosta sinks into the nether. Dragon Claw is a relatively ample 2HKO, which means Carracosta's Sturdy will not be triggered and Marlon will not use healing items on it, leaving Haxorus to its peaceful sweeping. Dragon Claw will also 2HKO Jellicent, but keep Haxorus healed as needed, as Shadow Ball still does a number to it. * Zinzolin (Plasma Frigate, tag battle with Hugh): Again, Ice everywhere. Keep Haxorus safe until the two Cryogonal are gone, and preferably also Weavile, with its pesky Ice Shard. The grunt's Pokémon are no issue; one Dragon Dance and they will go down in the blink of an eye, so long as all of Zinzolin's Pokémon have been defeated beforehand. * Zinzolin (Plasma Frigate): This time everything has Ice coverage, so Haxorus should not fight here. * Colress (Plasma Frigate): With Bulldoze and X-Scissor on hand, Haxorus will be able to do well here. Bulldoze is a 2HKO against Magneton and Magnezone, just like their own Flash Cannon; naturally, be wary of this as Haxorus piles up damage, and be especially wary that a critical hit may end Haxorus' sweep stack. Beheeyem goes down to X-Scissor; positive effect Rivalry and the Expert Belt will guarantee the OHKO, but missing either of these two conditions will only let Haxorus score a 2HKO, with the same concerns for Beheeyem's Psychic as there are for the magnets' Flash Cannon. Metang and Klinklang are not scary, but do not Dragon Dance against them, it will be pointless against Metang (still a 2HKO) and Klinklang's Shift Gear can do better than that. * Shadow battle #1 (Plasma Frigate): Spam Dig and X-Scissor and win. * Shadow battle #2 (Plasma Frigate): Spam more Dig, then take down Banette with Dragon Claw. Watch for its Sucker Punch if Haxorus' health happens to be low; heal if needed. * Shadow battle #3 (Plasma Frigate): Spam even more Dig, then switch out against Accelgor. Its Me First could copy Dragon Claw, which would wind up in a dead or near-dead dragon... not worth risking a life over, especially since there should be better counters by now. * Black/White Kyurem (Giant Chasm): Haxorus can OHKO White Kyurem with Dragon Claw and a Dragon Gem. Black Kyurem may or may not be OHKOed, depending on Haxorus' Attack stat; calculations should be run before Haxorus fights it, as Kyurem itself will score the kill unless Haxorus does so first. * Ghetsis (Giant Chasm): Cofagrigus is good setup material, if it chooses to spam Toxic and Protect as it typically does. Haxorus needs at least two Dragon Dances to sweep Ghetsis' team clean, as well as Dragon Claw and Shadow Claw (for Cofagrigus). Do not use Dig against Drapion, it will Earthquake Haxorus. * Hugh (Victory Road): Haxorus should seize the opportunity given by the Unfezant lead to set up Dragon Dance at least once. If Unfezant opens with Swagger, keep Haxorus healed as it will deal severe damage to itself in recoil. At +2, Haxorus can OHKO both Unfezant and the elemental monkey with Dragon Claw; at +3, the OHKO by Dragon Claw is guaranteed against Hugh's whole team (female Rivalry specimens will need an additional Dragon Dance in both cases). This is the preferable option, as Haxorus can easily get killed by Bouffalant's critical Head Charge, or Samurott's Ice Beam. * Elite Four Shauntal (Pokémon League, Ghost-type): Haxorus can set up at most two Dragon Dances against Cofagrigus, and will then need to be healed, as Shadow Claw - its strongest move available against Shauntal - can OHKO Cofagrigus only in the event of a female specimen with Rivalry, or a Mold Breaker specimen holding the Expert Belt. At any rate, after the two setups, Haxorus can easily annihilate Shauntal's team. * Elite Four Marshal (Pokémon League, Fighting-type): Haxorus needs four Dragon Dances to off everything on Marshal's team with Dragon Claw. OHKOs are possible starting at three, but not guaranteed. Throh's Storm Throw is a 3HKO as a critical hit (which it always is), so Haxorus can be kept healed throughout the setup and sweep whenever ready. Against Lucario, use either Dig or Bulldoze. * Elite Four Grimsley (Pokémon League, Dark-type): Since Liepard's Night Slash is only a 4HKO against Haxorus, a Dragon Dance setup is not only possible, but also very easy. X-Scissor OHKOs Liepard and Absol even without setups and Krookodile at +1 (+2 will be needed to compensate for Intimidate). Superpower will OHKO both Scrafty and Bisharp no matter the setup level, but at least three Dragon Dances will be necessary to compensate for all of the stat drops that Haxorus will suffer in this battle. * Elite Four Caitlin (Pokémon League, Psychic-type): Charge Beam deals ridiculous damage until several Special Attack boosts happen for Musharna, so Haxorus can Dragon Dance undisturbed; keep it awake, as Musharna has Dream Eater. Two boosts are enough to OHKO all of Caitlin's team with Shadow Claw, except for Metagross, if the Expert Belt is being held; male Rivalry specimens will need an additional Dragon Dance to accomplish this. In order to OHKO Metagross, 3-4 Dragon Dances will be necessary, depending on Haxorus' Attack; +4 is on the safe side, as it also considers the option of a nature beneficial to Defense on Metagross' end. * Champion Iris (Pokémon League, Dragon-type): Haxorus' usefulness in this battle largely depends on its stats. A Haxorus with Mold Breaker, holding the Expert Belt, and with a nature that is neutral to Attack can OHKO Hydreigon and Druddigon with Dragon Claw; a male Rivalry specimen, or a specimen with a nature that is detrimental to Attack, cannot. Archeops can be used as setup fodder with careful play: Dragon Claw is a 2HKO without any Dragon Dances, like Acrobatics without Defeatist (though with a nature detrimental to Defense, Haxorus may die to the Flying Gem-boosted move); using Dragon Claw once and then setting up, healing as needed, will keep Haxorus safe from Archeops' full attacking power. Bulldoze will help it sweep Aggron after two Dragon Dances (one for female Rivalry specimen, three for male Rivalry ones). Lapras requires at least four to be OHKOed by Dragon Claw, and cannot be fought otherwise, due to Blizzard. Iris' own Haxorus is holding a Focus Sash; Haxorus is hopeless against it unless, once again, the setup has already taken place: its Outrage will otherwise OHKO the ally Haxorus. Alternatively, teach Haxorus Dual Chop so that it may break the enemy's Focus Sash, but take into account that Dual Chop may miss. * Post-Game: What Haxorus could destroy before, it can destroy now, and possibly even more than that. }} Moves Axew's initial moveset is Scary Face, Slash, False Swipe and Dragon Claw. It starts with its best Dragon STAB after Outrage right off the bat, which makes it very powerful; however, Axew is frail, even with the Eviolite. At level 32, it learns Dragon Dance, which will be crucial for its usability later down the road. It then gets Taunt at level 36, but it is a waste of a slot, despite Haxorus' good defensive capabilities. After evolving into Fraxure, the line gets Dragon Pulse at level 42, but Dragon Claw should be kept instead, as it is far more powerful. At level 48, Fraxure gets Swords Dance, which Haxorus will attempt to learn again at level 50. Swords Dance is a faster sweeping alternative to Dragon Dance, but bear in mind that Haxorus will not be able to outspeed everything in its natural state. Haxorus also gets Guillotine at level 58, but good offensive moves backed by a Dragon Dance do that job much better. At level 66, should Haxorus ever be trained that far, comes Outrage; it is better than Dragon Claw, but far beyond the level of the Champion's ace. Likewise for Giga Impact, at level 74. On the plus side, both moves are available via other methods, respectively a tutor and a TM. Haxorus has several TM options to choose from. Two of its most interesting moves, Swords Dance and Dragon Claw, are also teachable via TM, though the latter is postgame-exclusive. Earthquake is also sadly a postgame exclusive, but X-Scissor and Rock Slide both provide great coverage and are available fairly early on. A valid alternative to X-Scissor is Shadow Claw, which also hits Ghost-types for super effective damage, at the expense of a lesser base power. Another viable option is Brick Break, though only obtainable with Battle Points and inferior to Superpower, a tutored move. Dig has an only slightly lesser base power than Earthquake, and can work well as a coverage move in the medium term. Options such as Aerial Ace and Bulldoze get overshadowed as a result, as there are better alternatives available. Haxorus' special options are not worth considering, as its Attack is so much higher than its Special Attack. Three interesting options are offered to the line by move tutors: Aqua Tail, which is good for coverage and fairly accurate; Superpower, a great move to have despite the obvious stat drawback; and lastly, Outrage, the stronger and riskier cousin of Dragon Claw, which Shift mode players might prefer to the former due to the obvious advantages... if only it were available before the postgame. Recommended moveset: Dragon Dance, Dragon Claw, X-Scissor, Superpower Recommended Teammates * Steel-types: A Dragon-type's best friends are easily Steel-types; they sport a resistance against both of the Dragon-type's rare weaknesses, hitting Ice-types super effectively, which is a great addition in a region where they are so prevalent in the late game. Haxorus will certainly appreciate having a Steel-type teammate. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Lucario, Magnezone, Klinklang, Escavalier, Probopass, Aggron, Durant, Bisharp, Bronzong, Metagross * Ice-types: Failing Steel-types, which may be difficult to find, Ice-types will cover Haxorus just fine against its main weaknesses. There are a few good Ice-types in Unova, though they are mostly catchable in the late game; Steel-types should still be preferred, if available. ** Good Pokémon that fit this description include, among others: Glaceon, Beartic, Cryogonal, Lapras, Walrein, Weavile, Vanilluxe, Dewgong Other Axew's stats Fraxure's stats Haxorus' stats * What Nature do I want? Adamant is best, by far. Anything that lowers Special Attack is also workable. Haxorus does not particularly appreciate having its Defense or Speed cut down, but its stats overall are so good that it will rarely really matter. * Which Ability do I want? Mold Breaker, if anything because it is a lot less situational than Rivalry. Rivalry may help in some matchups, but it will also bite back in other important fights; notably, a male Haxorus with Rivalry is significantly less helpful against Iris than any other Haxorus. * At what point in the game should I be evolved? Right away into Fraxure. The evolution into Haxorus should happen before Drayden. * How good is the Axew line in a Nuzlocke? Very good. It evolves late, but wild Axew are close enough to Fraxure level to not notice, and Fraxure itself can do reasonably well until the time of evolution comes around again. Pure Dragon is also a good type to have, rid of the burden that is the secondary Flying-type; Ice-types are obviously going to be a problem, but not much else can threaten a Haxorus. * Weaknesses: Dragon, Ice * Resistances: Fire, Water, Grass, Electric * Immunities: None * Neutralities: Normal, Fighting, Flying, Poison, Ground, Rock, Bug, Ghost, Steel, Psychic, Dark Category:Black 2/White 2 Category:List of Evolutionary Lines with Completed Analyses